Kids

Tulipop is bringing a growing animation slate to MIPJunior and MIPCOM, led by the new preschool series Tulipop: Island Adventures and the newly completed 30-minute Halloween special Pumpkin Pip. The new series is moving into visual development, storyboarding and pre-production following Tulipop’s most extensive development programme to date. The process has included a writers’ room, broadcaster and audience research, educational and social-emotional consultation, and the development of a new series bible.

Building on the internationally distributed Tulipop Tales and the brand’s growing collection of 30-minute seasonal specials, Island Adventures will take the property in a new creative direction. The preschool series will explore the emotional lives of its young characters as they make mistakes and navigate friendship and growing up, while retaining Tulipop’s irreverent humour, warmth and distinctive visual identity. The series will also make greater use of Tulipop Island’s environments and ensemble cast, opening up space for bigger adventures and new sides to its characters. Selina Wagner, who directed Pumpkin Pip, is attached as series director. Martha MacDiarmid is leading a writing team comprising Ian Carney, Zahara Andrews, Isabel Fay, Evgenia Golubeva, Myles McLeod, James Walsh and Ross Collins MacKay. Educational and cultural consultant Claire Casswell, whose credits include BBC Bitesize, Paramount and Moonbug, is supporting the project’s educational and social-emotional framework.

“Tulipop trusts its young audience and explores the complexities of childhood without ever feeling preachy,” said Casswell. “Its combination of humour, emotional depth and a magical world makes it genuinely distinctive within the preschool landscape.”

The series has received development support from Screen Scotland, with Tulipop also collaborating with Scottish animation studio 2D Workshop. Signý Kolbeinsdóttir, creator and co-founder of Tulipop, said: “Island Adventures allows us to explore new relationships, introduce bigger challenges and reveal new sides to our characters, while retaining the humour, warmth and playful weirdness at the heart of Tulipop.” Helga Árnadóttir, CEO and co-founder of Tulipop, added: “This is our most ambitious development process to date. It has enabled us to push Tulipop further creatively while remaining true to the characters and world, and we are excited to share the new series with international partners in Cannes.”

Created by Icelandic illustrator and designer Signý Kolbeinsdóttir, Tulipop is a character-driven fantasy world inspired by Icelandic nature, folklore and storytelling. The brand’s first animated series, Tulipop Tales, consists of 52 seven-minute episodes and has been sold internationally across broadcast and digital platforms. Tulipop has since added three 30-minute seasonal specials to its catalogue, with the latest, Pumpkin Pip, set to premiere in Icelandic cinemas this October. Directed by Wagner, Pumpkin Pip will also be presented to international buyers at MIPJunior and MIPCOM in Cannes.

Tulipop’s digital audience continues to expand, with its content approaching 60 million views on YouTube and available in multiple languages. The brand has also broadened its international licensing programme through a partnership with Pogo Group, including print-on-demand merchandise for global markets through Amazon.